Labyrinth and Leroux
by Cookie LaRue
Summary: Labyrinth, Phantom of the Opera crossover. What happens when Sarah Williams attends a ball at the Paris Opera House? Leroux based Erik, not ALW. COMPLETE.
1. Conferences and Costumes

_**Labyrinth and Leroux**_

**Chapter 1: Conferences and Costumes**

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Sarah Williams liked to keep two feet planted firmly in reality. She did not like to daydream or to fantasize. She only liked things that were real, that were tangible. Sarah Williams had not always been this way.

When Sarah was a little girl she loved to play make-believe. She would dress up and pretend she was a beautiful princess waiting for her Prince Charming to come. When she got bored with that Sarah would brandish a plastic sword and take on imaginary villains in her backyard. Sarah was a princess and a knight all wrapped into one. Sarah loved a good story and love to pretend she was in it. Her favorite story above all others was _The_ _Labyrinth_.

Then one night, when she was 15, something happened. Sarah had spent the afternoon acting out the story of the Labyrinth in the park. She lost track of time and had to run home in the rain. She was an hour late. Her stepmother and father left with nary a word to her and left her to baby-sit her crying little brother. Sarah was frustrated. Why should she have to take care of Toby? She just wanted to live in her own magical world. The story of Labyrinth was still fresh in her mind and being the dramatic teenager that she was, she said the words. She wished the Goblin King would come and take her baby brother away.

And he did.

It was the most fantastic thing that had ever happened to Sarah. She got to solve the Labyrinth, the real one. She made friends with all sorts of talking creatures. She played a real live game of wits with Jareth, the Goblin King. She even got to be a princess and go to a ball, even if it was just for one dance. It was an amazing night. But when it was over and Sarah found herself back in her own room, something had changed. Sarah felt in the pit of her stomach that it was time to say goodbye to the world of make believe. It was time to be normal.

The next day Sarah was resolved to pack away all her old books and toys. She told her stepmother she wanted to redecorate. She wanted her room to be more grown up. Her stepmother was so excited and went out to get Sarah some paint samples and magazines.

As Sarah started packing away her room she started to notice how many things reminded her of the Labyrinth. The stuffed fox in the musketeer outfit. The dwarf bookend. The princess music box. Even the statue that sat on her dresser.

Her mother, her real mother, had bought her the statue at an art fair. Sarah picked it out because she thought he looked like some sort of elf king. Linda Williams liked it because she thought it looked like a glam rocker. The artist told them they were both wrong and the statue was just a joke. His boyfriend had been trying out costumes for his cabaret act and this was the worst of them. The artist made the statute as a testament to his boyfriend's bad taste.

Whatever the statute had originally been meant to be, all Sarah saw now was the Goblin King. Everything in her room reminded her of something in the Labyrinth.

Sarah sat back and let her mind roam. What if?

What if it had been all a dream?

Sarah stared at the statue. Her mind turned to memories of her mother. What if she was like her mother? What if last night had all been in her mind?

What if?

What if Sarah was developing the same mental illness her mother had died from?

It wasn't something her family ever talked about. Her mother Linda had been such a beautiful vivacious woman. They all preferred to remember her that way. Linda was an actress. She got to play make-believe for a living. Her life was filled with imagination and fantasy. Sarah wanted so much to be like her.

But Linda was sick. She went undiagnosed right until the very end. The most anyone would admit to seeing were small eccentricities. Linda would have erratic bursts of anger, but people just chalked it up to her being a diva. She would become overly protective of Sarah, but then again what mother hasn't been overly protective of their child? Linda had an odd way of looking at the world. Most people just thought it was part of her charm. But the small things started to add up and weigh on Linda's fragile mind. She got more and more eccentric, more and more agitated.

Then one night Linda snapped. There was no reasoning with her and Sarah and her father were forced to bring her mother to the hospital. The psychiatrist on staff said they needed to keep her there to properly diagnose her. Spooked by the bustle of the emergency room and the thought of having to stay there, Linda ran. She ran out the front door and straight into oncoming traffic. A semi hit her and ended Linda Williams' life.

Sarah stared at the statue.

"It all started with make-believe," she whispered to herself. Was Sarah traveling down the same path as her mother?

Sarah told no one of her suspicions or of her time in the Labyrinth. She just tried to forget.

Time passed. Sarah did her best to be a normal girl in high school. She tried her damndest to do normal things. She went to football games and to parties. But every now and then she would see something that reminded her of the Labyrinth. A white owl sitting in a tree. Rocks rolling down a hill of their own accord. Occasionally she would see something worse. A dwarf starring back at her in a mirror trying to speak to her. A bubble floating by with people dancing inside of it. When Sarah saw these things she closed her eyes tight and told herself they weren't real. None of it was real.

By the time Sarah graduated from high school she had developed a bad reputation. She was a freak who jumped at stupid things and mumbled to herself. Sarah Williams was the sort of girl who wouldn't be missed if she didn't show up to a high school reunion.

Sarah didn't fare much better in college. Her attempts to immerse herself in the fraternity / sorority lifestyle were dismal. She could have sworn that on the night of her first kegger a boy that looked a lot like Jareth tried to lure her upstairs. She stayed away from the frats from there on out. Sarah avoided the other end of the social spectrum as well, the artistic types. She knew they would just encourage her oddities. All-in-all Sarah stayed by herself, afraid to try anything new.

Finding her major was a process of trial and error. She tried most everything but eventually had to settle on English. Despite her misgivings about studying the books that she was obsessed with as a child, it was the only thing she was really good at besides acting. She definitely did not want to be an actress like her mother anymore. Sarah became an English major and took an analytical approach to the stories that plagued her. It helped calm her fears, give her a new lease on life. By the time she graduated Sarah felt she had a handle on books and even had started to write.

Writing is what led her to Paris. She dabbled in writing contests here and there in her spare time, but never won anything. She saw an essay contest in the back of a magazine asking people to write about Gaston Leroux's book, _The Phantom of the Opera_. Sarah had read it in school and cranked out a quick essay. It was nothing spectacular or insightful so Sarah was shocked when she got a phone call that she had won. The grand prize was a trip to Paris to attend an international writers conference. At first, Sarah didn't want to go, but her family finally talked her into it. Toby wanted an Eiffel Tower souvenir. Her father assured her that she would be safe. Despite her gut instincts, Sarah hopped on a plane and headed to Paris.

The writer's conference was mostly what Sarah had expected. Rooms filled with writers talking about writing. She was placed in a group with several other Americans. It was actually quite boring. The organizers anticipated this and planned several field trips for the writers to take. Sarah went along with everyone else to tour places like the Louvre, the Eiffel Tower and Versailles. Towards the end of the writer's conference to promoters had planned something spectacular. In honor of their theme of _The Phantom of the Opera_, they were hosting a Masquerade Ball at the Palais Garnier.

Sarah was extremely apprehensive when she saw the notice about the ball in her conference literature. The invitation came stuffed in a free copy of Leroux's book. Sarah tossed it aside immediately. She had been to a masquerade once. She had danced with the Goblin King. It wasn't something she really wanted to relive. Sarah planned to skip the Phantom's Masquerade. She didn't want any relapses. She didn't want to see Jareth amongst the dancers. Sarah would stay in her hotel room and watch a movie. It was all settled in her mind. No ball for her.

It was mid afternoon when the writers groups were ushered out of their rooms and onto their tour buses. Today they would be touring the Palais Garnier, the Paris Opera House. After the tour the writers would have a chance to pick out their costumes for the ball, from out of the Opera's wardrobe department. Sarah knew she wouldn't need a costume but she had to go along on the tour just the same.

The tour guide showed the group the grand staircase and the theater. He pointed out box five, but told them that none of them would be allowed to go near it. The guide showed a tiny portion of the backstage and that was it. Sarah was disappointed. When the guide announced that he would be showing the group to where pick out their costumes Sarah interrupted.

"Aren't we going to go down and see the lake?" she said.

The tour guide reprimanded her.

"No madam nor shall you be going up to the roof. The opera house is not in business to let Phantom fans like yourself enact your little fantasies. It's bad enough you are having this ball. Be grateful for what you get."

Sarah looked more than a little annoyed with him but held her tongue. She tried to excuse herself from the costume selection, but the tour guide had already dubbed her a troublemaker and forced her to stay with the group.

An array of magnificent costumes from the opera's long history were waiting for the writers to try on. Five costume mistresses and one master were there to help choose costumes. Sarah stood off to the side watching, but not participating. The costume master saw her and approached.

"Do not be so shy mademoiselle. It is fun. We shall find you a perfect costume. Just like Cinderella."

"No thank you. I'm not going. Don't waste your time on me. Please help the others."

He ignored her protest and disappeared into the wracks. Sarah rolled her eyes and tried to hide in another corner so he wouldn't find her. She thought she was in the clear when he popped up right behind her. She jumped.

"Here we are. A beautiful dress for a beautiful lady. You will look like a princess."

Sarah turned around ready to pooh-pooh the dress and send him on his way. Her eyes went wide when she saw a vision from her past. The dress was white with large puffed sleeves. It was the dress from her princess music box. It was her dress from her dance with the Goblin King. Sarah stepped back and closed her eyes tight.

"It's not real. It's not the same dress. There is a different dress there. Open your eyes and see a different dress," Sarah mumbled to herself. She opened her eyes. The white dress was still there.

"Trust me moi cheri. It was like it was made for you. Try it on. You will love it!"

"NO!" She yelled at him. Everyone turned and started at her. She tried to cover her tracks.

"I mean no thank you. It's not my taste."

"Hmph! I dare you to try and find a better dress. Rude American." The wardrobe master turned in a huff and left her. The rest of the writers turned and went back to searching for their own costumes.

A plump little woman named Matilda from Sarah's writing group came waddling over.

"It's all right Sarah. Just find something you like."

"No I'm not going to the ball."

"What? Why not?"

"It's just…I don't like parties. I'm not very good with small talk. I'm even worse with crowds and strangers." Sarah said. She couldn't very well say it was because when she was fifteen she lost her mind and thought she went to a masquerade with a Goblin King and now she was worried going to another ball might make her loose her mind again.

"Oh but you have to go! It's a once in a lifetime opportunity. Why come all this way to Paris and then you sit in your hotel room? And it's just all us silly writers. You've already met all of us. It's not strangers. Please Sarah? If I'm going to squeeze my big ol' butt into one of these costumes you surely could find the courage to do it too."

Sarah thought the lady had a point. It was a once in a lifetime opportunity. Why was she so scared? She never used to be scared of anything. She shouldn't let that damn figment on her imagination Jareth ruin the rest of her life. Matilda was right. Sarah should go to the ball. Just find a costume that isn't even the slightest bit Labyrinth-like and go to the ball. It will be safe. It's just a bunch of silly writers after all.

"Um…ok. I guess you're right. I'll go to the ball. I should go find a costume."

"Yay!" Matilda clapped her hands like a little girl whose best friend was now coming to her slumber party.

"There were some real fancy ones over in that corner. I couldn't fit into them. I've got to go over to the big diva section, but I bet you could fit in them. Good Luck." And with that Matilda wandered off into another part of the room.

Sarah moved towards the shady corner the portly woman had pointed out and stroked her hand across the costumes. They were old, probably from the 1800s. There was a slave girl costume, but that was a little too revealing for Sarah's taste. A shepherdess costume…erm…no. Her hand stopped on something she liked the feel of. It was Spanish looking. She pulled it out from off the wrack. Elegant ruffles lined the full skirt. A fitted blouse, matching corset and a red silk rose on the bosom. It was like a flamenco costume, but much more romantic looking. The little girl who used to like to play make-believe burst out. Sarah held the costume tight with wild abandon and snuck behind a curtain to try it on.

The costume hugged her curves and felt like a perfect fit. Sarah emerged from behind the curtain to try and find a mirror. The socks she was still wearing ruined some of the effect, but from the ankle up she was one sexy looking Senorita.

Matilda waddled back over to her wearing a rather ridiculous looking Viking costume. She whistled when she saw Sarah.

"Whew-hoo! Look at you. You've got to wear that."

Sarah smiled.

"You like it? I wonder which opera they used it in? _Carmen_ probably."

The wardrobe master came round the corner of a costume wrack holding the Brunhilde helmet that went with Matilda's costume. He dropped it with a loud clang when he saw Sarah.

"Mon dui," he gasped. Sarah smiled more widely.

"See. I knew I could find a better dress."

"Mademoiselle please do not wear that costume. I do not know how it got out here. You must not wear it."

"Why not?" Sarah asked.

"Yeah why not?" Matilda chimed in.

The wardrobe master looked shifty and moved closer towards them dropping his voice almost to a whisper.

"It's just that it has a very unfortunate history. It was one of the costumes used in _Don Juan Triumphant_."

Sarah pursed her lips. So they were already trying to stir the Opera Ghost legend amongst the gullible writers.

"You're telling me that this was used in the Phantom of the Opera's opera? Please. You do understand it was a FICTIONAL book. None of it actually happened."

The wardrobe master look offended. He reprimanded Sarah.

"I thought you of all people would believe in the Opera Ghost."

"What? Why? What do you mean me of all people?"

"Writers," he amended. "Your type is more apt to believe in the fantastic."

"Yeah…well…not _this_ writer. Let me tell you something buddy, the Phantom of the Opera never existed. It was just a story. It was just a book. There was never an opera called _Don Juan Triumphant_. This costume is not cursed or special or anything like that. It's just a costume and it's mine. I'm wearing it tonight and you can't stop me."

Matilda had her back. "Yeah it's hers. Back off Frenchie!"

"As you wish mademoiselle. I warned you. No good can come from wearing that dress." And with that he skulked back into the shadows. Matilda picked up her helmet from the floor.

"Come on Sarah. We should change back to our own clothes and get back on the bus."

Sarah was distracted. She didn't hear the other woman. Sarah hadn't acted that haughty since she was a teenager.

"Sarah, come on. We're gonna miss the bus."

"What…oh…right. I've got to just change back to my jeans quick."

Sarah changed quickly and folded her costume gingerly in her arms. She had to sprint to make it to one of the last departing buses.

Well it was all settled then. Tonight Sarah was going to let her guard down, just a little. Tonight she was going to dress up. Tonight she was going to play make-believe.


	2. The Maze of Mirrors

_**Labyrinth and Leroux**_

**Chapter 2: The Maze of Mirrors**

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When the tour buses pulled up to the opera house that night, the writers were met with a bit of a shock. The Masquerade was already in full swing. Costumed guests could be seen twirling around inside. The music bled out into the street. The writers all craned their necks to get a better look.

"Hey what's going on? I thought this was a private party just for us?" Matilda huffed in a fury partly out of her own disgust, but also out of disgust for Sarah who had said she hated parties with strangers. One of the conference organizers picked up the bus speaker and addressed the writers.

"Ladies and gentleman, we were told late this afternoon by the Palais Garnier that another group has paid to join ours. The opera house was not willing to have two separate balls, so I'm afraid that you will have some company. Rest assured that it is a very big building and that there is plenty of room for you all."

There was quite a bit of grumbling up and down the aisle, but they had already come this far. They shouldn't have to miss their own ball. The various writers groups exited their buses and entered the opera house.

It was like a scene right out of Gaston Leroux's novel. The opera house was bathed in a beautiful yellowy light. Costumed revelers jutted through the corridors. Masked waiters greeted guests with champagne. Sarah was having trouble adjusting to the black mask that covered the upper-half of her face and quickly took it off. She was still fairing better than Matilda buckling under the weight of her Brunhilde helmet.

Sarah broke away from the writers almost immediately so she could go explore the opera house. Every alcove seemed to be filled with costumed men and women well on their way to being drunk. With each new corner turned, Sarah began to imagine scenes from Leroux's book. La Carlotta croaking on stage. The chandelier crashing. It was becoming so vivid to her. So real.

"No! Stop thinking like that' she reprimanded herself 'It's just a book. It's not real."

Sarah's imagination was getting the better of her and she didn't like it. Perhaps her wandering the opera house alone wasn't such a good idea after all. Sarah made her way back towards the bustle of the party. She looked down towards the grand staircase where an announcement was being made by a middle aged Frenchman in a tuxedo.

"Ladies and Gentlemen your attention please. We have a treat for you this evening. In honor of the Phantom Erik, we have built a special attraction for you. A Maze of Mirrors. Do not be afraid. It is quite simple and quite harmless. All who enter will simply enter a ballroom area we have set up for you. If you will please follow me."

The costumed writers followed the man towards what looked to be simply a mirrored wall. He gestured towards two men who looked like stagehands to begin the show. With a tug of a few levers the mirrors began to turn on pivots. The impenetrable mirrored wall began to move in segments, spinning and shifting into a maze. The crowd applauded. The mirrors continued to shift until they finally reached their final stopping point. Each mirror lined up to create several long hallways leading into a ballroom. The mirrors locked into place. The crowd cheered.

"Merci.' the Frenchman continued 'we are so pleased you enjoy this display. Do not worry, the mirrors will stay locked in this position so you may enter the ballroom with little frustration. Come in at your leisure. There is a live band."

Sarah stood back as the other writers eagerly sprinted through the mirrored corridors into the ballroom. She wasn't really in a dancing sort of a mood, but at the same rate she didn't want to wander alone in the hallways pretending she was in Leroux's book. Matilda waddled past her giggling and entered a mirrored hallway. Inspired by the other woman's fearlessness Sarah decided to follow.

The mirrored hallway Sarah chose hadn't locked in perfectly into alignment. The mirrors were offset just enough that her reflection broke and refracted making a kaleidoscope effect. The effect made her dizzy and she stumbled to get to the other side.

Sarah came out the other end unharmed into a whirling mass of dancers. The spinning did not help her dizziness and she had to find a chair to sit down in. She held her head in her hands. Out of the corner of her eye she recognized some of her fellow writers. She lifted her head and sat back. Yes some of the writers were grouped in small huddles, but mostly the room was populated with guests from the other party. They were costumed and masked as well, but seemed to be following some different sort of theme. They did not wear the random opera costumes as the writers did. These guests had similar costumes that complimented each other. They were of Venetian influence. Each guest wore a grotesque looking mask. The masks reminded Sarah of something. What was it, she thought to herself. They were almost…goblin-like.

"Knock it off Sarah. This is not Jareth's ball. This is Paris. This is real. Stop imagining things" she mumbled to herself.

Sarah saw a group of writers moving back towards the mirrored entrances. She looked around. All the other writers must have had the same thought. They were out numbered by these Venetian folks and wanted to find their own corner of the opera house to congregate in. They were promised a private party. No sense in mingling with these people. Sarah was one of the last remaining of her party in the ballroom. Sarah got up and walked back towards the mirrors. As she did, she caught her first glimpse of him. A head of spiked hair the color of wheat hunting his prey. He was still searching for her, no doubt expecting her to wear the white dress as she had done years ago. Sarah went from a walk to a sprint. It was her biggest mistake. Jareth saw her black hair bouncing towards the mirrors.

"Sarah…I wouldn't do that if I were you" he growled at her.

Sarah looked back. His cruel eyes met hers. It was real. He was here. This wasn't her imagination. She had to make a run for it. Sarah hiked up her skirt and sprinted towards the mirrors.

Jareth spun a crystal ball in his hands and threw it past her nearly hitting her in the head. It rolled into a mirrored corridor and triggered the mirrors to move on their pivots once again. The Maze of Mirrors began to form. They crystal bounced back and forth against the shifting mirrors reflecting Jareth's magic throughout the opera house. All he wanted was to stop Sarah from leaving his ball. He did not know what his magic was about to unleash.

Sarah panicked as the mirrors turned around her. With nothing but her own reflection surrounding her she couldn't sense which way was forward and which was back. She heard the crystal clink against the mirrors. She followed the sound in the vain hoping it was moving away from Jareth and not back towards him. She had a fifty-fifty chance. Sarah slid past the last mirror just as it aligned into the impenetrable wall. She looked around. It was the opera house. She had made it out. Sarah kept on running. A sensible person would have run right out the front door, but Sarah didn't have all her senses at the moment. All she knew is that HE was here.

Sarah ran up the grand staircase looking for a place to hide and figure out what she was going to do next. She passed an odd looking pair of party guests. A woman younger and more petite than herself was dressed as a black domino. Following two steps behind her was a young man dressed as a white domino. What struck Sarah as odd that two people who were clearly meant to be a couple weren't walking side by side. No time to ponder.

Sarah continued to dash through the hallway looking over her shoulder for Jareth. As she looked back she slammed hard into a man stalking the hallway. Sarah turned her head forward.

"Dammit Jareth you sneaky bastard… " Sarah began.

It wasn't Jareth. Standing before her was a man dressed all in scarlet. He wore a huge hat with feathers on top of a death's head. An immense red-velvet cloak trailed behind. Sarah took a step back.

"I'm so sorry sir. I thought you were someone else. I didn't mean to crash into you. I wasn't watching where I was going."

The man said nothing.

Sarah paused not knowing what to say next. Instead she started at him. He wasn't dressed in the Venetian style of Jareth's ball. This man was dressed as something else. He was dressed as the Red Death. He was dressed like The Phantom of the Opera. Sarah had never been so happy to see someone in her whole life. It was one of the other silly writers. She was safe. She was in the real world. She smiled widely at the Phantom.

"You're the Phantom of the Opera! That's wonderful. I'm sure you're the hit of the party. I'm sorry for bumping into you. I hope I didn't ruin your costume. My name is Sarah Williams. I'm in writing group four. What group are you in?"

The Phantom stared at her.

"Oh…in character I take it. Oooookaaay. Well…I'll just be on my way then. Sorry again to bump into you like that."

A bony hand gripped her wrist hard as she tried to walk away. Sarah detached his hand forcefully.

"Hands off buster! I've already got one creep stalking me at this party. I don't need another one." Sarah stormed off into the dark of the hallway.

Erik was taken aback momentarily by the brash young woman. He should have punished her for her clumsiness, but she disarmed him with her smile. She called him "The Phantom of the Opera." She treated him as if he was a familiar friend. She carried herself almost like a man. Strong, bold and confident. No…not like a man…like a _diva_. Sarah Williams, a name he would not soon forget.

Erik receded into the shadows of his opera house. He was to make his grand entrance into the crushroom to scare the guests, but needed a moment to absorb his encounter with the dark haired woman. She was costumed, but the costume genuinely shocked him. It was a replica of one of his own sketches for _Don Juan Triumphant_. No one but he had seen them. It could not be a coincidence, it was too perfect and too much of his own mind. How on earth could she be wearing his creation when it had not yet been created?

Erik moved in the shadows and turned his gaze down towards the grand staircase. There was something in the air. Something was not quite right in his opera house. He felt that he really ought to be in the crushroom at this very moment scaring the Masqueraders, but he held back. It was if the story he should be living in had changed. It was if the fate he was originally doomed to meet had been cheated and a new path lay wide before him.

Below him Erik saw lights moving and shifting. He recognized the effect. It was light reflecting and refracting off of mirrors. He took a closer look. Indeed there seemed to be some sort of maze of mirrors shifting below him. How dare someone set-up a mirror trick in his opera house? He watched and waited. The mirrors shifted into alignment.

From out them came perhaps the vainest most foppish looking Masquerader Erik had ever seen. The man had long blonde spiked hair and strange upswept eyebrows. He wore a cropped velvet coat over bluish breeches that were as tight as humanly possible. They looked as if they were simply ballet tights. The man wore leather riding boots and carried a cane to complete the outfit. Erik thought he would never see a man that would rival the boy Raoul's vanity, but this peacock had just taken the Vicomte's crown.

The man below him raised his hands and made a crystal ball appear from out of thin air. It was a clever trick; even Erik had to admit to that. The man below turned and threw the crystal at the mirrors. The Maze of Mirrors shattered into a rain of soap bubbles that floated through the entryway. The Masqueraders near the scene clapped at the display. Jareth gave them a flourished bow.

Erik had seen quite enough. Whomever this man was he was clearly here to undermine his domain over the opera house. It took very little to make and enemy of the Phantom. The brazen magician below him had just declared war.


	3. The Two Magicians Meet

_**Labyrinth and Leroux**_

**Chapter 3: The Two Magicians Meet**

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Jareth destroyed the Maze of Mirrors as easily as he had created it. No use for it now. Sarah had already escaped this trap. She would not go near it again. The Masqueraders around him clapped at the spectacle. Sarah, that little minx, had brought him down to this. Cheap parlor tricks for dumb simple folk. Tonight he was determined to drag that girl back to the Labyrinth at any cost. Blast the rules.

Jareth had tried to lure Sarah before. Small bits of magic sent her way. A vision of that dolt dwarf Hoggle in a mirror. A waft of stink from the bog of Eternal Stench. Those things she ignored. But when he watched her in the guise of an owl; that seemed to stop her for a moment. But no, she would not relent. As Sarah grew into womanhood she seemed to grasp stronger and stronger onto the misguided notion that the Labyrinth was not real. It was all in her imagination. Sarah thought she was crazy and refused to wish herself back into his Labyrinth.

And so Jareth decided to change the rules. He watched sheltered little Sarah and her habits trying to find a weakness. Even in her skittish present day form she still liked to believe that she was special. She had taken a new interest in writing. A flick of Jareth's wrist and Sarah won a writing contest. The grand prize would take her out of the country to Paris. If she happened to disappear on this trip, well that family of hers would just chalk it up to some terrible traveling accident. It was a crude plan to get her isolated, but good enough. Then Jareth would just blur the line between her world and his. The Masquerade the writers had planned was a perfect place. Sarah would willingly walk from her ball into his. When she discovered the truth of where she was it would be too late. Jareth would block her path and keep her in his world.

Of course, Sarah had to be difficult. She hadn't worn the white dress he had left for her. She wore a rather comely looking Senorita costume instead. Not that he was complaining. She looked very fetching in it, its just the change had made him loose precious time finding her before she realized what was happening. No matter. He would capture her in a few minutes and make short order of the come hither dress she was wearing when he got her back home.

Jareth adjusted his waistcoat and strode towards the grand staircase. Masqueraders stopped and starred at him. Nothing particularly new to him. He was quite a sight to see. As he walked forwards he slowed his step. Something was off. Gas lights instead of electric. The men around him had greased back hair instead of the wild modern cuts of Sarah's time. The women had waist length hair twisted into elaborate styles. Jareth stopped and smiled. He knew enough about bending time to realize he was not in Sarah's modern world anymore. The crystal he tossed into the Maze of Mirrors must have sent his magic haphazardly into the opera house and caused some strange damage. Jareth quickly gazed into another crystal. There was Sarah wandering through the halls of the opera house. She passed the same sort of gaslights and the same sorts of Masqueraders he was surrounded by. He laughed.

It wasn't what he had planned, but it would do. He had unintentionally trapped Sarah and himself in the 1800's from the looks of it. Once she realized the predicament she was in, she might be a little more apt to go with Jareth to the Labyrinth. She certainly wasn't going home to her boring life anytime soon.

Jareth threw the crystal into the air and froze the world around him. If he were going to play a part in this new game he had to dress the part. In a blink of the eye, a simple elegant tuxedo replaced the outlandish clothing of the Labyrinth. Jareth's wild hair and made-up face were downplayed to more neutral tones. He gave himself short slicked-back hair and a tannish glow to his skin. He took a look at himself in a mirror and was quite pleased with the transformation. Very elegant. Very genteel. Jareth looked around him. Everything in the opera house lay frozen, including his lovely prey Sarah somewhere up above. He thought it rather easy to simply walk and find her before restarting time again. Jareth moved towards the grand staircase and stopped suddenly. From the corner of his eye he swore he saw something red move.

Jareth looked up. A man dressed all in scarlet with a huge feathers hat on top of a death's head stared down at him. The Red Death seemed still. Jareth thought it must have been his imagination. Perhaps it was just a draft blowing the feathers on the man's hat. Jareth started to climb the stairs. The Red Death moved his head. Jareth stopped.

"Who are you?" Jareth called up to the Red Death.

Erik glared down at the foppish magician. He had seen the man freeze people around him and change his appearance at will. This was no ordinary man. Was he somehow connected to the woman Sarah Williams? Was this the "creep" she said she was running from? Erik had to proceed cautiously.

"This is my opera house. You trespass at your own risk."

Jareth rolled his eyes. It must be some sort of a ghost. He forgot how common they were in Sarah's world. Ghosts do not adhere to the same rules of time that mortals do. No wonder he was moving about.

"I have no interest in you opera house. I am simply here to collect what is mine."

"Everything in this opera house is mine." Erik bellowed.

"Not her" Jareth snapped back.

"We shall see" Erik replied.

Jareth had no patience to stay and play with some common little ghost. The easiest way to be rid of this pest was to restart time. Ghosts hated being around bustling breathing mortals. At least, that was Jareth's understanding. He really didn't study much on the subject as a child. He found it dull.

Jareth set the world back in motion. The nineteenth century masqueraders returned to their revelry. The people who had standing next to Jareth moments before looked confusedly around for the magician. Jareth looked down at them from the staircase turning round and round like confused little ants. He looked back up towards the Red Death. He was gone. Good riddance. Time to find Sarah.


	4. Sarah's Abduction

_**Labyrinth and Leroux**_

**Chapter 4: Sarah's Abduction**

**

* * *

**

Sarah's quest to find a bathroom was not going well. She had seen public restrooms earlier when she was exploring the hallways, but couldn't find one now to save her life. She stopped every so often to look over her shoulder to make sure Jareth wasn't going to pop out from behind her. Sarah was doing her bet to convince herself that it had all been in her imagination. Some sort of psychotic set back. Her heart was pounding so loudly she thought it would beat right out of her chest. All she wanted to do now was splash some ice-cold water on her face and try to pull herself together.

Sarah's wanderings seemed only to plunge her deeper into the shadows of the opera house. She was trespassing into areas she knew she shouldn't. At the moment she was in a corridor that was almost deserted. This unsettled Sarah. She needed to find her way back to the main entrance. The sound of two people walking towards her made her step back. She opened the door of the nearest private box and left the door ajar just enough to see out.

The black domino and the white rushed past the door in their strange two-person train. They entered the private box next to Sarah's. Sarah heard a woman's voice.

"He must have gone higher. He's coming down again."

Sarah gulped. It better not be Jareth. She looked cautiously out the crack in her door. On the stairway across from her she saw a red foot appear. Then another. Slowly, majestically the man dressed as the Red Death descended. Sarah heard a man's voice from next door.

"It is he! This time he shall not escape me!" Sarah then heard the sound of a door slamming. A muffled argument began next door.

The Red Death moved closer towards the private boxes. Sarah backed away from the door. Was he pursuing her or this strange couple? Why did this all seem oddly familiar? She saw the red of his cloak pass by the crack in her door. She couldn't hear his footsteps on the carpeted hallway. Sarah could only guess at his movements. If she were a betting woman she would guess he was listening at the door of the next private box. Sarah pushed her ear against the wall. She heard a woman's voice.

"I shall never sing again Raoul!"

A man's voice replied, "Really? So he is taking you off the stage…"

Sarah backed away. She recognized the conversation. She had read it in Leroux's novel.

"Damn writers" she swore under her breath. So Mr. Phantom of the Opera has found himself some two playmates eh? He had himself a Raoul and a Christine to help him reenact scenes from Leroux's novel. They actually had her going for a minute.

The thought that there were three eccentric writers reenacting their favorite book eased Sarah's anxiety and increased it at the same time. She was comforted by the fact she was still in the company of her fellow writers. It made the notion that she had actually seen Jareth all the more remote. On the other hand, the thought that people were playing make-believe so convincingly was upsetting. She had done it in her youth. Play like that only led down a dark road.

Sarah took a deep breath and resolved to take control of the situation. No more floundering, no more hiding. She was going to march right out the opera house's front door, hail a cab and go back to her hotel. Then all of this nonsense would be over. Forget to Phantom re-enactors. Forget Jareth and his Maze of Mirrors. Just go back to the hotel, take a sleeping pill, and forget this whole sorted affair.

Sarah opened the door of private box and stepped into the hallway. The Red Death was still there and stared back at her. She rolled her eyes and put her hands on her hips.

"You know if you are going to do it, do it right. You aren't supposed to be in the hallway when Raoul and Christine come out. You're supposed to go and wait for her behind the mirror in her dressing room. Then you take her down to your lair, etc. etc."

Sarah waited for some sort of reply to her reprimand from the man across from her. He stood still. Sarah huffed in frustration and turned on her heal towards the nearest downward stairwell. She wasn't going to waste any more time on this Red Death fellow.

Sarah was filled with a know-it-all bravado from telling off her hallway Phantom. She was so pleased with herself that she hardly noticed the time it took her to find her way back to the grand staircase. She descended the stairs with a strong arrogant step of a modern American woman. The nineteenth century masqueraders gawked at the dark haired woman. Some of the female guests stopped and whispered to each other about the brazen woman behind their fans. Sarah paid no attention to the gossip she was starting. She was on a mission. Walk out the front door. It was easy as that. Out the front door and she was back in control. The sight of cars and street lights would plant her firmly in reality and do away with all of this fantasy.

Sarah stepped out into the chill of the night. There were no cars. No electric street lights. No airplanes lights blinking across the night sky. What she saw instead were horses and carriages. Women in bustles and men in top hats. The light was dim on the street with only gas light posts flickering away. In short, Sarah stepped outside and found herself in the past.

Sarah closed her eyes. No, no, no. This was all in her imagination. She was in the present. It was modern day. "Open your eyes and see reality." She opened her eyes. Horses and carriages.

Sarah's stomach dropped. What was happening to her? Did her mind latch onto the Phantom fantasy the others were reenacting? A gentleman in a top hat bumped into her trying to exit the opera house.

"Pardon moi mademoiselle"

Sarah looked at him in horror and disbelief. She backed away from him and stumbled back into the opera house. It was lit with candles and gas lights. The masqueraders around her were not the motley crew of writers, nor were they Jareth's Venetian goblin folk. They were what Sarah had imagined what Leroux's masqueraders looked like.

"Get a grip Sarah" she reprimanded herself. "Get a grip."

Sarah scanned the people around her. This wasn't really happening. There was no way she was actually inside the story of The Phantom of the Opera. And what if she was? Well…it was still better than getting kidnapped by Jareth, she mused. The Phantom was obsessed with Christine, not her. She had already seen a Christine Daae here and a Phantom. Maybe Sarah could just let the story run its course. Erik would die. Christine would go off and live with Raoul. The story would end and Sarah would just bibbidy-bobbity-boo back into her own reality. Sane enough plan she thought to herself.

"Ok Sarah. Just wait it out. If it is real, you know how the story ends. Just wait for Erik, Christine and Raoul's story to play itself out. If it's all in your mind, well then the story ending will snap you out of it. You ended the story when you defeated Jareth. It will be the same here. Just let the story end."

Sarah kept on talking to herself pacing in front of the grand staircase. As she did so she had the sense that someone was watching her. At first she thought it was just one of the many nameless masqueraders, probably thinking her costume and her demeanor scandalous. But as her instinct grew stronger, a tingle in the pit of her stomach began to form. Her senses put her on alert. Someone wasn't just watching her. Someone was hunting her.

Sarah looked up. In an alcove at the top of the stairs stood a man elegantly dressed in a tuxedo. Sarah didn't recognize him at first. He almost faded seamlessly into the bustling crowd around him. Almost. Jareth lifted his hands to adjust his gloves and the recognition fell into place for Sarah.

"Bastard" she swore under her breath. That nasty evil little imp was here. That certainly complicated her "wait it out" plan. Jareth smiled down at her. He moved his way through the masqueraders towards the stairway. He was coming for her.

Sarah looked around. She had already been out the front door. Danger only awaited her there. If she really was stuck in the Phantom's time, then people would either think her a madwoman or a prostitute dressed as she was. Why run anyway? This wasn't Jareth's Labyrinth. None of this was his style. This was the Phantom's world. This was Erik's domain. Maybe Jareth was stuck here too? Arrogant bastard thought he'd play a game in someone else's yard and now has to pay the price for it? The idea that Jareth was trapped here too and not causing all of this amused Sarah. She decided to stand her ground. Wait for Jareth, talk to him, and feel him out for information.

Sarah watched Jareth descend the staircase. Pompous and aristocratic as ever, he took his time to make sure everyone in the room knew he was kingly, if not to know he was actually a king. Sarah rolled her eyes at the performance and crossed her arms. She tapped her foot impatiently waiting for him to get down . Jareth did not know he was wasting precious time. Someone else in the room had his eye on Sarah. Someone else was hunting her. Jareth was loosing his opportunity to grab her.

Sarah stood absently waiting for her old sparring partner to arrive. She felt a hand on her waist.

"What the…" she dropped her arms and looked down.

The bony hand spun her round and gripped her tightly by the wrist. Erik was pulling her away from the staircase quickly and forcefully. Sarah recognized the feel of his hand from their encounter in the hallway before, but wasn't sure it was the same man at first. Erik was no longer wearing his Red Death costume. He was now in a tuxedo, much like Jareth's, but with a black hat and cloak shielding himself from the crowd around him. He was like a black shadow darting through the crowd. Sarah could hardly keep up with him.

In time she hardly thought possible, Erik had pulled Sarah away from the main hall towards an ordinary looking wall. In a blink a secret passageway opened and he thrust her inside. The door sealed behind her. There was nothing but pitch black on the hidden side. The dull murmur of the party faded and the bony hand pulled her deeper and deeper into the pitch.

To find that Sarah missing from the bottom of the stairway was more than a small annoyance to Jareth. Teasing him like this was not something he enjoyed. Jareth looked around. At the far end of the main hall he saw Sarah's Spanish skirts bouncing away. A man cloaked in black was pulling her away from him.

Jareth ran in pursuit pushing party guests out of his way. He followed the trail until he literally hit a wall. Jareth hit it hard, but made no breach into the secret passageway behind it. He backed away and turned down a hallway trying to pick up the trail again. Someone had stolen what was rightfully his. Jareth did not like to be a pawn in games. He liked to control the game. Whomever had stolen Sarah would have to be ready for a war. He was not going home empty handed tonight.


	5. Crossings and Pairings

_**Labyrinth and Leroux**_

**Chapter 5: Crossings and Pairings**

* * *

Raoul de Chagny had left Christine Daae's side hours before, but at present was trying to find her once again. She warned him to stay away, but he simply could not do that. Raoul stood in front of Christine's dressing room. He tapped at the door. No answer. He entered looking for Christine, or worse, another man. There was no one. Raoul heard footsteps in the hallway and quickly hid himself behind a curtain.

Christine Daae entered and took her mask off flinging it to the table. She sat down miserable letting her head fall into her hands. What was she thinking about, Raoul wondered.

"Poor Erik," she murmured.

At first he thought he must be mistaken. If she should feel sorry for anyone it had to be for Raoul himself. "Poor Raoul" she must have said. She repeated herself,

"Poor Erik."

Jealously filled Raoul's veins. Poor Erik indeed. He would challenge this rival to a dual. It was what gentleman did. No one but Raoul would have Christine.

Raoul then heard the soft distant sound of a man singing. It grew louder, drew nearer. Christine rose to speak to it. Raoul could see no one else in the room.

"I am here Erik,' Christine said. 'I am ready, but you are late."

Then the most confusing thing Raoul had ever seen happened. Christine walked though the mirror. Was it magic? Was it a trick? Raoul did not know. Christine had simply disappeared. It was as if this Erik was not of this world. It was if this Erik was a ghost.

"Blast it! A rival and a ghost."

Raoul burst out into the main opera house entrance infuriated. There were few masqueraders left. The lights were being put out. A very elegant looking gentleman with blonde hair was leaning against the grand staircase. He looked to be in as just a foul mood as Raoul. Raoul needed to release his frustration. Like a child throwing a temper tantrum he stood in the middle of the entryway, balled his fists and screamed.

Jareth raised and eyebrow. He had just spent the last several hours searching for Sarah. She was somewhere in this opera house, but he could not find her. Even with his magic, she was hidden from him.

"What's your problem?" Jareth asked the bratty looking young man pitching a fit in front of him. Raoul turned to the other gentleman.

"He has taken her that villain! And she went willingly, right through the mirror. To her Angel of Music. Bah! Her seducer more like it. She is a tramp…and yet I don't want to loose her. Christine is mine! I shant loose her to some foul villain who calls himself the Opera Ghost."

"A mirror? A ghost?" More like a lead Jareth thought to himself. Perhaps this Opera Ghost fellow was one in the same as the man dressed all in red he had seen earlier. Yes that made sense. This Opera Ghost had taken Sarah and apparently this boy's girlfriend.

"Can you show me this mirror?" Jareth asked. "Perhaps I can be of assistance. I can get your…Christine was it? Perhaps I can help get her back."

Raoul looked at Jareth thankfully.

"Oui monsieur. I shall show you. But I do not know how it works."

"Leave that to me. I have a knack for these things."

- - -

Sarah was still trying to come to grips with the situation. Here she was sitting in the Phantom of the Opera's lair. No way out. Erik warned her he had booby traps everywhere. She knew as much from Leroux's novel. Sarah sat on a chair simply waiting. Waiting for Erik to come back. Waiting for Raoul and the Persian to try and break in. At this point, she'd even settle for Jareth trying to break in. Sarah was stuck in the middle of a situation she did not know how to control.

There was a noise from outside. Some one was coming. Sarah sat up.

Erik came through the door leading a young woman in a domino costume. They looked like a really odd couple coming home from a mixer in a 1950's movie. Christine Daae jumped when she saw a very beautiful woman with long black hair in a Spanish costume sitting in Erik's house. She did a double take and looked back at Erik for an answer. He laughed.

"Oh she is hurt. Her precious pride. The idea that the trap door lover could have another woman. Ha!"

Truth be told, Christine was a little hurt. Erik had always shown such an obsessive devotion to her. Who was this other woman?

"Christine Daae I presume" Sarah spoke to the woman across from her.

"Oui?" Christine relied cautiously.

"My name is Sarah Williams. It's a long story, but I'm pretty sure you and I are going to be roommates."

"Erik" I…I do not understand" she turned to her captor and her teacher.

"You do not need to. Go and help her change. I found clothes that should fit her from up above. They are in your room. I wish to examine her costume. Go and make her change…now"

Christine looked confused, but moved to do Erik's bidding. She ushered Sarah into a small bedroom Erik had decorated for her. She closed the door and looked wide-eyed at Sarah.

"Who are you? Did he kidnap you? Are you a singer? Ho did you come to know him?"

Sarah tried to assess how best to speak to Christine. The truth seemed to be the best path.

"I don't know him. I know OF him. He's famous where I come from."

"He is?" Christine said shocked. "Is that what you are here?" Christine asked as she arranged Sarah's change of clothes on the bed.

"No. I didn't come to see Erik. Um…see there is another man named Jareth, sort of like your Erik. Very Powerful. He's a magician of sorts. He…well...he and I have a history. Tonight he played a terrible trick on me. I came to a masquerade ball to have fun, but it was all just a huge a trap to try and get me to come to his home. Like the way Erik makes you come down here. I escaped Jareth's trap, but unfortunately I walked right into Erik's grip instead."

"I do not understand."

Sarah tried another approach.

"Ok. Imagine if there were two Eriks and one night you escape one of them, just to be kidnapped by the other one. That's what happened to me."

"I am trapped by two men as well."

"Yeah yeah, Raoul and Erik. Oh woe as you…."

"How could you know that? How do you know of Raoul?" Christine backed away.

"You're famous where I come from too. I know all about you and Raoul. Erik, Meg, Madame Giry…the whole nine yards." Sarah replied.

Christine dropped the dress she was holding. No one had such knowledge of others. Only angels, demons and Erik could be so omniscient. Christine tried to change the subject.

"You must change now. He commanded it."

"Well leave the room. This isn't a peep show."

Christine exited the bedroom. Erik looked up.

"Where is the costume?"

"She is changing. She does not like to be watched."

Erik turned back to his score. He was still working on his _Don Juan Triumphant_. Christine hesitated, then spoke.

"Erik?" he looked up at her. "The woman Sarah, she said she knows of you and me and everyone in the opera house. I do not understand. How is that possible? And she said a magician is chasing her. I do not understand what is happening."

"I can not explain it all myself, but I have seen the magician. He is…an equal. Do not look at me like that! I do not fear him. No. I fear no one. But…he can do things that I cannot. I will not let him ruin my opera house. This woman Sarah, she has control over him. He yearns for her. I have seen him hunting her. I…I understand this. We shall keep her. He will bargain for her. I will make him promise never to return here again. Then they will both leave."

"Erik? Are we in danger?" He stared back at her through his mask.

"You are always safe with me." They were both quiet for a moment staring at each other, Erik broke the silence first.

"You should change too. You look silly." Christine turned away. She waited outside the bedroom door. Sarah opened it. She had changed into a plain navy blue dress and held the _Don Juan_ costume in her arms.

"He wants to see it. Please, I must change as well." Christine moved past Sarah and closed the door behind her.

Sarah walked into the depth's of Erik's lair. She found him at work at his desk, sheets of music scattered about. He turned at the sound of her step. He looked hungrily at the costume.

"Where did you get that?" he began.

"The opera house loaned it to me for the ball."

"Which opera house?"

"This opera house."

"No such costume exists here. You lie."

"No I don't. The costume department loaned it to me for the ball. The costumer said it was used in one of the operas."

"Which?"

"_Don Juan Triumphant_."

Erik rose. He grabbed the costume forcefully from Sarah's arms. He grabbed a drawing from his desk.

"This is my costume. How is it possible that you have it? It has not been made. No one has seen this drawing but me."

Sarah tried to reply calming.

"It is your costume. It is the one that you drew. It was sewn and used in _Don Juan Triumphant_."

"I haven't finished _Don Juan_ yet."

"You will and one day it will be performed. The opera house will keep the costume. Many years from now, I will come to Paris for a writer's conference. They will hold a masquerade ball and let us wear costumes from opera's past. I will pick one from _Don Juan Triumphant_."

"And then what happens?" Erik asked still annoyed by her answers.

"Well, then it gets complicated." Sarah replied. She heard Christine walking quietly behind her. Erik gestured for her to come to him. She dutifully came to his side.

"You must tell us your story. Tell us how you came here. Tell us of the magician."

"You won't believe me"

Erik briefly touched the side of Christine's hand.

"Tell us anyway."

Sarah sat them down and told them her story. She told them about the Labyrinth and of Jareth. She told them about Toby. She told them how she wished him away and had to go into the Labyrinth to save him. She told them how she ultimately defeated Jareth. Sarah talked about her life since and about her fears. She told them how she came to Paris. She recapped the Masquerade, the Maze of Mirrors, and everything that had brought them to this very moment. Erik and Christine both tried to absorb all the information. Christine spoke to Sarah first.

"Jareth…he offered you your dreams. All of your heart's desires. How could you turn him down? He loved you."

"He was going to turn my baby brother into a goblin."

"No. He would have let the baby go back home to his mother. He wanted you. He only took the baby because you asked him to. If you had asked him to send the baby back and you would stay with him, he would have."

"No!" Sarah rose her voice "You don't get it. That's not how it works. I thought you of all people would understand."

"What do you mean me of all people?"

"Don't be a hypocrite Christine. Look at you. Erik has offered you all of your dreams, all of your hearts desires. To be a great opera diva. But it comes at the same price. You have to live in _this_ underground. _This_ labyrinth. He may not be a Goblin King, but he certainly has his ghoulish side doesn't he? There is a price for your dreams. You're telling me that if you were in my shoes you would have stayed with Jareth, right? You forget Christine, I know how your story ends."

"Do you?" Erik entered into the conversation. "From your accusatory tone I can assume my darling here betrays me."

"No more than I betrayed Jareth. Your story ends the way it has to end. Mine did too. I had to get Toby back."

"And I have to loose her and die a lonely miserable wretch?" Erik replied to her very angrily.

""Yes" Sarah whispered consolingly.

Erik rose is a fury and left the house on the lake. So Christine would not become his living wife? Well he was not so ready to be defeated. Erik set out to work on the barrels. He would give an ultimatum. Choose him or kill everyone in the opera house. Erik darted through the caverns beneath the opera house hell bent on his plan. He took a mischievous and malicious glee in his work.

Christine watched as Erik stormed out. She was silent for a moment and then spoke to Sarah.

"It is not the same. I have Raoul."

"It is the same. Choose a normal safe life, or a dangerous dream filled one."

"What happens to him? What happens to Erik? Does he really die alone?"

"I'm not telling you. The story has to run its course."

Christine rose and walked away. Sarah heard the bedroom door slam.


	6. Underground

_**Labyrinth and Leroux**_

**Chapter 6: Underground**

* * *

Raoul led Jareth to Christine Daae's dressing room. He showed him the full-length mirror by a dim lantern light. Jareth ran his hands across the edge of the mirror searching for the switch. He couldn't see well enough in this light. With a wave of his dismissive hand he magically lit all of the lights in the room. Raoul spun round in horror and amazement.

"How did you do that?" he yelped at Jareth.

"Magic" Jareth replied disinterested still searching the mirror.

"What manner of man are you?"

Jareth stopped his search, stood upright and turned.

"Are you going to keep asking stupid questions? Just accept everything you see and shut up will you?"

Raoul opened his mouth to protest, but quickly shut it. This was no gentleman. He had the sudden realization that he may very well have made a deal with the devil to retrieve Christine.

Jareth returned to the mirror. At length he found the counterbalance. The mirror turned and the secret passageway presented itself. It was pitch black.

"Oh Christine. Oh my darling. How could you have walked down such a dark hallway?" Raoul moaned to himself. Jareth shook his head.

"Well obviously she's much braver than you, you big pansy. Do you want to know why your girlfriend ran of with this ghost? Because at least he's the ghost of a _man_. You're nothing but a scared little girl."

"You question my manhood? How dare you!'

"Pfff. I don't have time for you and your willowy commentary. Thanks for showing me the way in. This is where I leave you." Jareth turned to enter the passageway.

"No you do not! I must find Christine. I'm coming with you."

"I don't think so." Jareth snapped his fingers. From out behind every piece of furniture and every corner came his goblins. True to form Raoul screamed like a little girl and ran out the door. Jareth laughed. His goblins starred at him.

"Well laugh" they joined in.

"That's enough. Back to the castle with you" and the dressing room went back to normal. Jareth turned towards the passageway. He snapped his fingers and lit all the torches that lined its walls. He walked forward. The mirror's counterbalance turned and sealed him inside. As someone who had created a labyrinth, he highly doubted that this one would be very difficult to solve. He had found the entrance. It was a start.

Jareth walked through the underground passageways noticing that they were not intended to be a labyrinth after all. It was remarkably straightforward. The passageways seemed more like roadways to the different subterranean levels, than any sort of puzzle. He was really quite disappointed with the Opera Ghost's domain.

As he turned a corner, Jareth found three corpses.

"Interesting…" he kicked at one of them. Nope, not dead after all. The opera house workers looked like some of his more useless goblins. Yes this underground really was a disappointment. Hardly anything to challenge him. What was the point of trying to be a knight in shining armor for Sarah? If all this place had to offer was drunk workers, foppish suitors, and one crazy guy spooking the normal people, well Jareth was certain Sarah could take care of herself. She would probably be bored to tears by now.

Jareth walked deeper and deeper into the opera house caverns, a constant descent. A sound began to rumble ahead if him. He arched an eyebrow. The screeching became louder. A wave of little legs, nails, claws and teeth came bounding towards him. Rats. Hundreds and hundreds of rats.

It was a pretty scary booby trap. It might very well have scared a lesser man. Jareth waved his hands and brought forth a crystal ball. He threw it into the dark and stood back. The cleaners started seesawing their way towards the rats. Operated by two goblins, the cleaners was a contraption used to clean the passageways beneath his own labyrinth. The cleaners rammed into the rats flinging their screeching bodies into the walls. The rats scattered into any alcove and any exit they could find. The cleaners faded off into the distance. So much for the rats.

Bored. Bored. Bored. That's all Jareth could think about as he walked deeper into the opera's underground. There were no puzzles, no talking creatures, and no real traps. If Sarah weren't somewhere down in the dark he would have gone home already. He did want her. He tried to focus on that one goal, but the impetuous child in him really did want to run off and find something more exciting to do. He was so distracted by his own pity party that it took a second to realize that his feet were now sloshing around in water. Jareth looked down and saw his boots were covered up to his ankles. He looked up.

Jareth stood at the shore of a vast underground lake. At the center stood a small house, lights dimly flickered within. He thought chances were good to fair that Sarah was inside. Jareth looked around for a boat. None in sight. He tried to conjure one. His magic didn't work. He tried again. Nothing.

"Well well well. Maybe this ghost is cleverer than I thought. Some sort of blocking spell?"

Jareth surveyed the lake and the distance to the house at the center. He didn't need a boat. It wasn't that far. He could swim it. Jareth removed his coat and tie and walked into the lake. Just a short swim and Sarah would be his.

Jareth had not gotten very far when he first heard it, the Siren's Song. It was sort of a half-breath half-music coming from all around him. It intrigued him. He treaded water waiting for a beautiful mermaid to pop out from underneath him. It was not a mermaid that finally greeted him. Two monstrous arms shot up from under the water grabbing Jareth by the neck and pulling him down. Jareth fought hard, his limbs flailing in the dark water. He broke free and pushed his way back to the shore. Jareth stumbled onto the rocky edge, his clothes weighing heavily on him. The white of his tuxedo shirt was so soaked with water it now seemed invisible against his skin.

Jareth heard a deep laugh echoing through the cavern.

"Why try to enter my house magician? I never invited you!" Erik called out. Jareth grimaced. This ghost was really starting to get on his nerves.

"I'm here to retrieve what is rightfully mine." Jareth spat at him. Erik laughed.

"Yours? I think not magician. She rejected you years ago. Oh yes Sarah told me all about you. You and your parlor tricks. Turn back Jareth, there is nothing for you here."

"Who the hell do you think you are? It was MY magic that brought Sarah here in the first place. Do you honestly think I'm going to just leave her here with a nutcase like you?"

"Sarah has made her choice. Turn back Jareth. Turn back before it's too late."

The words seemed all too familiar. How much did Sarah tell this so-called Opera Ghost? Obviously too much. The bastard was taunting him with his own words to her to turn back and forget Toby.

"So what do you honestly think you can do to me hmm? You've just seen a tiny bit of the magic I can do."

"You're magic won't work here Jareth. I thought you would have already realized that after your little swim in my lake."

Jareth was ready to bite. The other man clearly wanted to tell him the reason his magic suddenly wasn't working.

"What exactly did you do? Blocking spell of some sort?" Jareth called out.

"I told you this is MY opera house. Everything in it is mine. I control it."

"Bull. I did magic in your opera house earlier. You saw it."

"Yes but that was before I knew the secret. Sarah told me. I know how to stop you and you magic from controlling me or my domain. Yes Sarah told me. _You have no power over me!_"

"Damn." Jareth swore.

"Mwaa haa haa haa! You'll have to face me as a man. Turn back Jareth or you will be dead within the hour."

"I'll take my chances you masked freak"

"Come then monsieur. Let the dance begin."

Jareth stepped forward. As he did the Punjab lasso tightened around his ankle. He had not seen Erik attach it during their struggle under the water. The rope pulled taught. Jareth had just enough time to take one last breath. The rope pulled him into the lake. It pulled him fast and hard through the water to the opposite shore. The mechanical contraption retracted the rope pulling him forward towards the house. Jareth tried to break free but there wasn't enough time. Erik laughed as he watched Jareth being pulled into the house. Last stop—the torture chamber.


	7. Confrontation

_**Labyrinth and Leroux**_

**Chapter 7: Confrontation**

* * *

Sarah sat at Erik's desk trying to read the notes of _Don Juan Triumphant_. She had never had any music lessons so she was making very little progress. Christine could have probably helped her, but she was still locked in her bedroom sulking. Sarah looked up when a strange noise began to echo through the walls of the house. It sounded like the wheels of a giant clock turning. Sarah stood up and pressed her ear against the wall. Some sort of mechanical device was definitely at work. She stood back and looked around. What was happening? She heard a loud thump as something smacked hard against the side of the house. The mechanical noise slowed to a stop. It sounded as if something large had just been dropped into the walls.

Erik came bounding into the room laughing.

"I have a present for you Sarah. Come. Come and see." He grabbed her hand like an eager little boy pulling his mother towards a newly built sandcastle. He slid back a curtain to show a small window. Erik hit a switch and light poured into the six-sided room. Sarah recognized it as the mirrored torture chamber. Lying on the floor was a man, wet and dirty. Sarah looked at Erik.

"I don't understand. Who is that? Is that Raoul?"

"Raoul? Bah! The Vicomte has nothing to do with you. No look closer." Erik banged on the wall.

"Get up. Show yourself magician."

Jareth pushed himself up off the floor and adjusted the tatters of his shirt. He started to survey the room. As he turned towards the window, Sarah saw his face and gasped. Erik smiled at her underneath his mask.

"You are pleased? Yes I have captured the fiend. I will be happy to torture him for you. It has already started you see. He will slowly go insane from the heat and the light until he hangs himself with the lasso. It will be a fine entertainment."

Jareth could hear the Opera Ghost explain his plan to Sarah. Sarah started to speak.

"But he's the Goblin King. He'll just use his magic and pop right out of there."

Jareth put his hand on his hips still looking for a way out. He called out to her.

"I'm afraid not Sarah. You've seen to that haven't you? My magic won't work on him anymore."

"Jareth what are you talking about?" She yelled back.

"Do the words "_You have no power over me_" ring any bells? You handed all the power right over to him. I can't do anything to him or his creations. You let him castrate my magic in this place you little vixen. When I get out of here I am going to drop you head first into the Bog of Eternal Stench."

"What? Hey you're the one that started all of this! You and your nasty little tricks. Your stupid magic. If you can't use your magic on Erik, well, it serves you right. And frankly if you are going to threaten me like that I might as well let him torture you. If you really can't use your magic anymore than there is no way you can get me home. I'm going to be stuck here with or without you."

"What is happening?" the quiet voice of Christine came from behind as she finally emerged from her room.

"I've brought Sarah a present. The magician Jareth. I am torturing him for her."

"What?" Christine ran forward alarmed. She peered through the window.

"Oh monsieur I beg you. Use your magic and escape this place. Please please go!"

"Who is that?" Jareth called out.

"Christine Daae monsieur" she replied.

"There is a boy upstairs looking for you."

"Oh no! Raoul is still here? I begged him to leave. He too will be in danger."

"No your boy hero ran off screaming like a little girl when I opened the secret passageway in your dressing room. He's long gone. He won't be back."

"Oh Raoul. Poor poor Raoul." Christine sank down into a chair. So much was going on.

"Look as much as I enjoy the heat of this room drying my clothes could we cut to the chase? Sarah 'm sorry I tried to trick you back into the Labyrinth" Jareth began half-heartedly. "Why don't you let me out of here, I'll take you back to your time and we'll just call it a night. No more games." He didn't really mean it. He still had every intent to take her back to the Labyrinth once they were out of this opera house.

"No!" Erik interjected before Sarah could say anything. "Torturing you is my present to her."

"Oh Sarah. Please let him out. I cannot bear to see such a beautiful man be tortured." Christine pleaded. Sarah turned to Christine annoyed.

"Beautiful? Good lord. Well if you're so in love with him you let him out."

"I do not know how."

"Well then mind your own business."

"Christine?" Jareth cooed deeply from within the torture chamber. He had found himself a willing little helper. "Christine how would you like to come to my Labyrinth? No more Opera Ghost. No more Raoul. I could make you my Queen."

"NO!" Erik screamed. "She's MINE!"

"Well I thought it a fitting plan. You took my girl; I'll just take yours. A clean swap. How about that?"

"NO! Neither is yours. You will die!" Erik increased the light and heat in the torture chamber.

"Why do you need them both? Do you want some sort of harem? Steal that boy Raoul's girl. Steal my Sarah. Too ugly under that mask to get a girl on your own, hmm?"

Erik shook with fury.

"Jareth shut up" Sarah warned him.

"Yes I'm sure you are quite the impotent little monster aren't you? Wouldn't know what to do with either of them when you get them to your bedroom would you? Just like to play make believe that you are a man. You really are nothing more than a ghost."

Erik mad with rage tore the mask from off his face. Sarah jumped back at the first sight of his disfigured features. Erik pulled at a lever and opened the torture chamber. He grabbed Jareth and hit him hard. The two men pulled and beat each other, rolling into the room with Sarah and Christine. Sarah stepped in between them and the both backed away not wanting to hurt her. She stood arms outstretched telling them nonverbally to keep their distance.

Jareth took a good long look at Erik's face. He smiled.

"Well well, you are a sight. Very terrifying. Very grotesque. I'm impressed."

"Do not mock me." Erik spat at him.

"I'm not. You are the most frightening thing I've seen in a long time. Think how you could scare the children who dare wish themselves into my Labyrinth. You would make quite and addition to my menagerie."

"Jareth stop it" Sarah snapped at him, "He's a man, not one of your creatures. Leave him alone."

"Erik please" Christine started "Please. You promised. You said you would make them both leave. You said he would bargain for her. Just let him have her."

"Oh you'd like that wouldn't you? You who leave me for that fool Raoul. I shall die alone. No! Sarah stays. SHE shall be my living wife."

"What?" Sarah turned her attention to Erik.

"Yes you shall be my living wife. I knew when I first saw you that it was fated. You wore the costume from my _Don Juan_, a costume not even yet created. It was magic incarnate. You spoke to me unafraid, down right jovial. You do not fear me. You shall love me. Yes you will stay and live with me. We shall have a house aboveground and you will be happy."

"What about Christine?" Sarah replied eyeing the room for the nearest exit.

"Christine rejects me. You said so. She leaves me for Raoul. But you will not. Your only choice is me or Jareth. I know you will not choose him."

"Uh…" Sarah stalled.

"Erik no! This is madness!" Christine rushed to his side.

"Quiet you. Go to your room" Erik grabbed her by the waist and forced her into her bedroom locking the door behind.

"Tut tut. Such a fickle heart. Reject your one true love for mine? Very tacky if you ask me" Jareth chided him.

"No one asked you." Erik leered.

"I've had quite enough of this. Sarah come on, time to go home." Jareth said. Sarah looked at both men and moved towards Jareth.

"NO!" Erik screamed at her.

"I'm sorry Erik. I have to go with him, I don't belong here. This isn't how your story ends."

"My story? My story. The one where I loose Christine and die alone a miserable monstrous wretch? No! We change my story now. You stay."

"I can't."

"You have to choose!"

"I already have."

"No you haven't. You must choose the Grasshopper or the Scorpion." He gestured towards the mantelpiece where two figurines of imitated Japanese bronze stood.

"Turn the Scorpion and it shall mean you choose me. You choose a life here. Turn the grasshopper—ah beware the grasshopper, he jumps very high my dear. Oh yes very high indeed."

"What are you blathering on about?" Jareth said. Sarah knew. She knew from the book. The grasshopper would blow up the opera house and everyone in it.

"It's a trigger. It blows us up." She replied. Erik laughed.

"Time to choose Sarah— left or right?" he gestured towards the figurines.

"Blow him up Sarah. Just end this. You and I will be fine. This is all just misfired magic anyway. His story and all these people in it will just disappear back into the book they came from. It's all an illusion. I've just lost control of it."

Sarah looked at Jareth. Maybe he was right. Maybe it was all just an illusion. Erik wasn't real. This was all just a figment of her imagination. Sarah moved towards Erik. He looked excited and nervous. She stood in front of the bronze figurines. After a moment's hesitation, she turned the Scorpion. She chose Erik.

"Sarah no! Why Sarah? Why?" Jareth looked at her dumbfounded.

"Because that is the way that it is done. That's how Erik's story goes. Christine chooses Erik. She doesn't choose Raoul. She turns the Scorpion. She chooses Erik."

"What?" Erik stepped backwards.

"She chooses you."

Erik stumbled absorbing this revelation. The gurgle of the gunpowder barrels sinking into the lake echoed around them. Christine would choose Erik and then Erik would let her go. She would show him compassion and he would return the favor. Yes that is how his story ended. That was the way it had to end. Erik silently moved towards his desk. He opened a drawer and pulled something out.

"I have a gift for you Sarah." Both Sarah and Jareth shifted to try and see what it was.

"What is it?" Sarah inquired.

"It's just a crystal." Erik replied. Jareth recognized it. It was the same crystal he had thrown at Sarah into the Maze of Mirrors. Erik showed the crystal to Sarah.

"Stop!" Jareth outstretched his hand.

"It's just a crystal' Erik continued ignoring Jareth. Erik knew well enough that that trickster was still going to try and kidnap Sarah and drag her back to the Labyrinth. But not tonight. Not if he had anything to say about it.

"But if you turn it this way…" Erik turned the crystal. The light from the candelabras reflected through it and bounced off the walls of the mirrored torture chamber illuminating both Jareth and Sarah. They both disappeared.

Erik turned the crystal in his hands letting it dance back and forth. The light faded in the crystal. It popped into a harmless soap bubble. The magic was over.

Erik walked towards Christine's door and opened it. She stirred from her bed.

"I had the most peculiar dream" She started sleepy-eyed.

"It was just a dream. Come. We must get you back to Mamma Valerius."

"Yes all a dream"


	8. Goodnight

_**Labyrinth and Leroux**_

**Chapter 8: Goodnight**

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Sarah found herself back in front of the grand staircase dizzy and sick. She swayed and sat down on the steps with a thump. Matilda saw her and waddled over quickly with her Brunhilde helmet askew.

"Sarah are you all right?"

"What?" Sarah said groggily. She looked up and saw the portly writer trying to help prop her up.

"I don't feel well."

"Somebody help me. She's sick. We've got to get her back to the hotel."

Sarah was barely aware of the helping hands around her as they ushered her out the front door. Matilda hailed a cab and several fellow writers helped escort Sarah back to the hotel. They got Sarah's key at the front desk and helped her upstairs.

"Should we get a doctor?" Matilda asked the others around her as they plopped Sarah onto the bed.

"No' Sarah protested. "I just need some sleep. Too much champagne. Thank you for getting me here. Could you all please leave?" Sarah put on a brave face and tried to shoo them all away. They reluctantly obliged. Sarah put the "Do not disturb" sign on the outside handle of her door and she pushed them all out into the hallway. She bolted and locked the door shut.

Sarah paused and leaned against the door taking a very deep breath. Just calm down Sarah. It was all in your head. All in your head.

Sarah walked forward ready to take her costume off and slip into her pajamas. She looked into the mirror on the dresser expecting to see the _Don Juan_ costume. It had all just been a dream she reminded herself. A figment of her imagination. A plain navy blue dress started back at her. The dress Erik had gotten for her. The dress Christine Daae had tried to help her put on.

It wasn't a dream.

Sarah looked down placing her hands on the dresser to steady herself. She looked up. The navy blue dress was still there and now leaning back on the top of her bed was Jareth still in his dirt tattered tuxedo. Sarah spun round. The bed was empty. She turned back towards the mirror. There was Jareth hands tucked behind his head, feet crossed over one another, leaning back staring at her.

"Well that was quite a night wasn't it?" he began.

"Yeah is was a real barrel of laughs" she chastised him. "What are you doing here anyway? I didn't wish you here. You're not playing by the rules."

"Oh forget the rules. I couldn't pass up the opportunity to see you spinning round a ballroom again could I?" He took hands from behind his head and let them fall slack. He leaned more comfortably into the pillows.

"I don't want you here." She said to him coldly.

"Yes you made that quite clear when you ran from me."

"Yeah and then you tried to knock me out with one of your crystal balls."

"Spur of the moment thing. I didn't hit you anyway. Don't carry on about it."

"And pulling me into the story of The Phantom of the Opera? Can I assume that was a spur of the moment thing too? One big accident?"

"Yes. Unintended. But interesting don't you think?"

"Mmmmm…super." Sarah rolled her eyes and looked away from the mirror.

"That Erik fellow was quite a smart chap. Sent you back to your world before I could trick you back into mine. Sent me back to the Labyrinth too. Very clever indeed."

"Yes well thank god for Erik. I hope he trapped in your world for good this time." Sarah and Jareth were both silent for a few moments. She knew she was being harsh and he took the slight to heart.

"Sarah?" Jareth started again.

"Yes?"

"You were really willing to stay with that grotesque man to save everyone weren't you? Even if they weren't real. You'd sacrifice yourself to save other people, even to save me?"

"Yes. So what?"

"I don't know why I'm so surprised. You've always been that way. Sacrifice your own happiness for the sake of others. You did it with Toby. You did it again tonight. I just never thought I'd be on the receiving end of one of your sacrifices."

"Yeah well don't take it too much to heart. " Sarah tried to downplay it. "Did you ever think I chose Erik just so I didn't have to choose you?"

"Yes that seems to be true to your character too. Always turning me away. I wonder though…when will you finally choose something for yourself? When are you going to be a little selfish?"

"Probably never. What can I say? I'm a martyr."

"Ah someday Sarah, someday you'll slip. You'll want something. I just hope I'm the something you want."

"Don't hold your breath. Tonight is not the night you suddenly turn into my Prince Charming. It's been a long night. I think you should go now. Goodnight Jareth." Sarah turned her head and looked back on the empty bead. She looked into the mirror. He was gone.

Sarah sighed. She was being pretty harsh on him. Part of her was actually quite happy to know that he was real. She wasn't crazy. Jareth did exist and he was out there somewhere. He had always existed. Sarah was not her mother. The Labyrinth had been real. It had all been real.

Sarah dropped her head, resigned to take out the few hairpins and to get ready for bed. Absentminded she hardly took notice when a hand moved towards her waist. Jareth was standing next to her. He pulled her close and leaned in. He kissed her lightly on the cheek. Jareth withdrew from the embrace and whispered softly in her ear,

"Good night Sarah. Until we meet again. Our game is still in play."

Jareth pulled away and Sarah finally had enough sense to realize he was really there. She spun round. He was gone. The bedroom window was now open and the wind was flapping the curtains inward. She ran to the window. A lone white owl was flying off into the night sky towards the stars. Sarah pulled the window closed and drew the curtains tight.

Her heart was pounding. Oh the Labyrinth was real all right. Jareth was real. Maybe she had been better off thinking she was crazy. It all seemed simpler that way. What sort of life lay before her now she did not know, but she knew that the danger and excitement Jareth's magic would be a part of it. No more hiding for her. Coming to Paris had been an adventure. Who knew what sorts of adventures lay before her now. As Jareth said, their game was still in play.

Sarah calmed down and changed into her pajamas. She covered all the mirrors in her hotel room with towels. She had enough of mirrors for one night. Sarah pulled the sheets over her legs and reached for the light. Just before she pulled the string she noticed her copy of Gaston Leroux's _The Phantom of the Opera_ lying on her nightstand. She opened it to the back. It still ended the way it always did. Christine turned the Scorpion and chose Erik. He let her go. The words "Erik is dead" appear in the newspaper. Sarah closed the book and put her hand over it.

"Goodbye Erik" she whispered and put the book in the nightstand drawer. She looked to the window.

"Goodnight Jareth. Until we meet again."

Sarah put out the light. That night she dreamt about absolutely nothing. She had enough fantasy for one night.

**The End**


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